Qualities that people who work at home must have. It’s not for everyone, this WAHM thing.

Thinking about doing the work at home thing? Everyone seems to be looking for that elusive work life balance these days and working from home can give you a great way to do a lot of things you wouldn’t normally get to do in a regular 9 – 5. However working from home is certainly not for everyone and I know quite a few people who would not do well in that sort of environment.

Some people just handle it better than others. But there are a few qualities that those who work at home should have.

Organization

Working at home requires good organization. You must be able to handle organizing your business, your home, your personal life and everything else that is in your life. You should be able to handle the myriad of details that your multi-faceted life requires. You need to be able to balance it all and it is hard work.

Flexibility

If you are set in your ways and expect everything to go the way you think they should, you will be disappointed as a Work At Home Mum. You must be flexible so that when a child gets sick, or the dishwasher breaks, or your invoices don’t get paid, you can handle it. You should be willing to say “yes” as much as you say “no” and be able to handle the changes in schedule well. I learnt this the hard way.

Ability to say “no”

As much as you should be able to say “yes” you must also be able to say “no”. It’s sometimes hard for people to wrap their heads around the idea that a work at home mum who stays home is working full time, that’s she’s contributing in a significant way to the family’s income.

That means that often you will be called up on to do things at school, to watch other peoples’ children, or to do thing that takes you away from the thing that – during the day – is the most important thing to you, and that’s work. It is your bread and butter.

To that end, then, you should be able to say “no” just as often as you say “yes”. You should find some flexibility and willingness to go with the flow, to change the plans as necessary, as well, but ultimately you should be able to reply in the negative. This quality is a necessary requirement for a successful WAHM experience.

Discipline

Do you have self-discipline? Can you work hard when nobody is looking. That quality, the ability to be disciplined about your work, is essential to having a successful WAHM business.

Not everyone has self-discipline when it comes to work, and that’s not always deadly in business. Some people just need others around to ensure that they will do the work they are supposed to be doing. But if you work at home, there won’t be other people to support you, to encourage you to work, to join in with when it comes to work. You need to find it somewhere within yourself for struct self discipline. It is hard.

Self motivation

This goes hand in hand with discipline, but it’s a bit different. To make your self discipline work for you, you must first have self motivation. You should want to do your job and get to it as soon as you can each day and get yourself a routine going.

Unlike an out of the house job where there might be a boss keeping an eye on your efforts, at home it’s just you. If you aren’t self motivated enough to get up in the morning with an eye toward what you need to get done that day – without anyone reminding you of your responsibilities – you might not be well suited to working at home. But if you are self motivated and are able to keep yourself going even in the face of many bumps in the road, you might do well working for yourself at home.

Multi tasking abilities

This is a biggie. Working at home, especially when you’re a mum, take a certain level of multi-tasking expertise. You should be able to handle the house, the husband, the kids, and the work. You should be able to handle all of it and sometimes all of it at once. If you get very stressed when things don’t go perfectly, or if you can’t focus on more than one thing at a time, working at home might not be for you.

Independence

People who work at home must have a certain level of entrepreneurial initiative. That is, they work independently and are willing to take the necessary risks to achieve some success. If you want to work at home and be successful, you too should have this independent streak.

Working at home take a myriad of personality characteristics, but these are by far the most important.

Hone the traits you already have and work to develop the others, and work at home mum success will be yours.

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